prevailing wind
Americannoun
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Meteorology. a wind from a specified direction that is the typical or predominant wind direction in a particular region or season (often used in the plural).
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the dominant direction of public attitudes and trends.
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A wind that blows predominantly from a single general direction. The trade winds of the tropics, which blow from the east throughout the year, are prevailing winds.
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See illustration at wind
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This variation is also due to the wind direction, with rain being blown in by a prevailing wind coming off the North Sea, dragging in extra moisture which has enhanced both the rain and cloud.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026
Yana Valachovic, a fire scientist at the University of California, said some of the spared houses were tucked away from prevailing wind currents so that embers didn’t hit them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025
Agguttinni means "where the prevailing wind occurs" in the Inuktitut local dialect.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024
The biggest change to Royal Liverpool is the new 17th hole — a par 3 of just 136 yards that can be a menace with the prevailing wind coming off the Dee Estuary.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 16, 2023
She rode the prevailing wind over the familiar mountains and rivers and beyond the Catskills into unknown territory.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
